7 Tips for Using GRE Practice Questions During Your Prep

Last Updated on April 27, 2023

Completing GRE practice questions is a major part of preparing for the GRE exam. However, many GRE students are unaware of how to use practice GRE questions to make their learning more effective and efficient. In fact, often the way that people studying for the GRE use practice questions actually slows down their progress and ends up adding to their total study time.

In this article, I’ll share my top 7 tips for incorporating GRE practice problems into your test prep, tips that will not only save you time and frustration but also help you achieve the content mastery you need to earn an impressive GRE score on test day. 

Let’s start with a foundational principle of incorporating practice into your GRE prep: you cannot rely on practice questions to teach you GRE content.

• Tip #1: Don’t Rely on Practice Questions to Learn Content
• Tip #2: Learn Before You Practice
• Tip #3: Start Your Practice Untimed
• Tip #4: Review Your Wrong Answers
• Tip #5: Practice a Topic Until You Can’t Get Questions Wrong
• Tip #6: Solve a Wide Range of Realistic GRE Practice Questions
• Tip #7: Regularly Answer Practice Questions on Past Topics

Tip #1: Don’t Rely on Practice Questions to Learn Content

When you take an initial, free GRE practice test to get your baseline score (a must for anyone starting to prepare for the GRE), unless you find that you’re only a few points from your score goals for the GRE Quantitative and Verbal sections, it’s imperative that you don’t rely on quizzes, random practice sets, and practice tests to get you to the finish line. GRE practice is a way to refine your skills, not develop them from scratch.

There are a few problems associated with trying to learn the content and concepts you need to earn a good GRE score by simply completing hundreds of random practice questions. First, there are hundreds of different concepts that could show up on a GRE exam. So, if you think you’ll be able to “catch” them all by just doing random practice — even with a large number of questions — you’re taking a huge risk that is extremely unlikely to pay off.

Furthermore, you’re likely to be left with numerous gaps in your GRE knowledge, gaps that will be especially difficult to detect if you’re just doing a mix of random GRE practice problems to try to “cover your bases.” Trust me, this strategy is the opposite of covering your bases! In reality, this reliance on random practice is like rolling the dice on what your GRE score will be on test day.

OK, so you say to yourself, I’ll be more organized in my GRE practice, I’ll get a list of GRE topics and make sure I do practice in all of them, I’ll be methodical about which types of practice questions I start with and when I practice “the hard stuff.” Here’s the thing: GRE practice questions still won’t teach you the GRE. They simply allow you to learn how to apply the knowledge you’ve gained through dedicated study.

So, as systematic as you tell yourself you’re going to be in using GRE practice questions as your primary study tool, you’re unlikely to learn the vast array of concepts and strategies you need to earn a high GRE score by simply completing practice questions, and then reading the solutions to the questions you answered incorrectly. This is a popular but ineffective GRE prep strategy. For example, a student answers a couple dozen random practice GRE questions with a timer going, gets many of them incorrect, and then reads the answer explanations for the missed questions to find out how to answer the questions correctly. I know students who answered literally hundreds of questions using this “study plan” and didn’t see their GRE scores budge an inch.

The truth of the matter is that reading a solution that tells you what you did wrong and what you could’ve done right is not the same as actually knowing those things, and then putting them into practice. Furthermore, when your method of learning is doing GRE practice questions, you’re probably not going to immediately apply what you just learned from an answer explanation. Instead, you’re going to say, “OK, now I’ve learned that,” and move on to the next practice set. And by the time you see another question to which the information applies, there is a good chance that you won’t remember to use that information.

Don’t make the mistake of relying on solutions to practice questions to be your GRE teacher. If you do, you may find it very difficult to increase your GRE score in any notable way.

TTP PRO TIP:

GRE practice questions don’t teach you the GRE. They simply allow you to learn to apply knowledge you’ve gained through dedicated study.

Tip #2: Learn Before You Practice

This may seem self-evident, given that GRE practice questions won’t teach you GRE content, but it’s important enough to spell out: only after you’ve learned the concepts associated with a GRE topic should you start doing practice GRE questions on that topic.

This order of events is important for a number of reasons. First, you will have the tools you need to actually answer practice questions correctly, so you won’t waste time trying to answer questions testing concepts that you simply don’t yet have an understanding of. Would you want to sit for a pop quiz on Stalin’s rise to power if you hadn’t read that chapter in your history textbook? Answering GRE practice questions on topics you haven’t studied isn’t much different.

Another reason to learn the content before you attempt to practice answering questions on it is that your practice will help solidify the knowledge and skills you just gained in studying the topic, so that everything you learn really “sticks.” In other words, learning a topic before you practice answering questions on it makes both your learning and your practice more effective.

Lastly — and this point is especially important — if you learn first, then practice, your practice will give you a far more accurate picture of whether you really learned the material you just studied and are ready to move on to another topic, or whether you need to continue studying the current topic in order to master the material. Targeting your strengths and weaknesses goes from being a game of whack-a-mole to a manageable task.

So, for best results, first build a strong foundation of knowledge in both the concepts and techniques related to a GRE topic, and then answer practice GRE questions on that topic. For example, before answering 1-blank Text Completion questions, you would learn how to recognize structural keywords and interpret punctuation (concepts), and you would also learn to eliminate answer choices from worst to best (technique).

Don’t try to guess what you already know or don’t know. Study a topic before you go down the rabbit hole of answering dozens of questions on it. You may find that you’re able to move through certain topics fairly quickly because you already do have a good foundation in them, but that doesn’t mean you’d be better off skipping straight to practice questions. You’d be surprised how many GRE students think they know a topic really well, only to find that when they start studying that topic for the GRE, they realize that they’ve forgotten a lot of what they knew about the topic or didn’t know as much as they thought. 

TTP PRO TIP:

To get the most out of your GRE studying, learn the concepts associated with a GRE topic first, and then complete numerous practice GRE questions on that topic.

Tip #3: Start Your Practice Untimed

One of the single biggest mistakes that GRE students make is immediately jumping into trying to answer practice questions with a timer going. If you are going to master answering GRE math and verbal questions, you have to give yourself the time to deeply analyze questions, learn to see what you need to see, and struggle and hack and do everything you possibly can to get to correct answers. How will you ever learn to do those things if you start off trying to answer every question in 2 minutes or less, or 1 minute, or even 3 or 4?

Here’s the funny thing about imposing time constraints when you first start your GRE practice: students tend to think they’re giving themselves an added challenge by setting a timer, but they’re actually letting themselves off the hook! 

When the clock is ticking, you always have a ready excuse to stop trying on a challenging question. Rather than stick with questions, build your stamina and mental toughness, learn to closely analyze what is going on in questions and answer choices, you can say to yourself, “Two minutes are up? Oh well, I guess I have to move on to the next question.” Is this method of practice actually going to help you sharpen your skills in answering GRE questions efficiently? Probably not.

Here’s another fact about GRE practice that may seem counterintuitive: You need to learn how to answer GRE questions before you can learn how to answer them quickly. In fact, if you’re further along in your prep and you find that you’re having trouble answering questions of a certain type under time constraints, you probably need to devote more time to studying that material.

So, I generally recommend to my students that in the beginning of their GRE prep, they don’t worry about the clock at all when completing practice questions. Instead, they should focus solely on analyzing questions and finding right answers. This is painstaking work, but it’s essential if you want to be able to answer GRE questions both quickly and correctly. The good news is, as you gain experience and skill in analyzing questions and finding right answers, you will naturally begin to speed up in your GRE practice. Just try not to be discouraged if it takes you much longer than you expected to answer GRE practice questions when you’re just starting out. Remember, you’re doing exactly what you need to do to drive up your GRE score, and with every question, you’re strengthening your skills.

TTP PRO TIP:

In the earlier stages of your GRE prep, do practice questions untimed.

Tip #4: Review Your Wrong Answers

Part of learning a topic is making sure that you’ve actually learned it, and if you haven’t, studying that topic further until you have. So, when you complete GRE practice questions, you must review any questions you answer incorrectly, and if necessary, go back to your study materials to review concepts related to those questions. In many cases, simply reading the solutions to the practice questions won’t be sufficient for mastering concepts that you didn’t fully understand. Answer explanations can show you what you failed to see or grasp in a particular question, but they generally don’t explain concepts in much detail.

Additionally, as you review your wrong answers, note the reasons why you answered the questions incorrectly. Did you make a careless mistake? Forget to complete the last step in solving the problem? Solve for X when you should’ve solved for Y? By determining why you’re getting questions wrong, you can not only target your weak areas and fill gaps in your knowledge, but also uncover patterns in the mistakes you’re making that could hold you back if you don’t correct them before test day.

Another thing you can do in your GRE practice in order to eliminate weak areas is to review the solutions and return to your study materials for questions that you guessed correct answers to. Many GRE students skip this important work, but for the purposes of mastering the GRE, an answer that you guessed correctly is really no better than an incorrect answer. After all, you’re not doing practice questions just to pat yourself on the back; you want to actually master the material. So, you have to be very honest with yourself when evaluating your performance on practice GRE questions. You wouldn’t want to leave your GRE score up to luck on test day, so you shouldn’t be satisfied with getting correct answers by guessing during your GRE practice.

TTP PRO TIP:

When you complete GRE practice questions, review any questions you answer incorrectly or guess correct answers to, and if necessary, go back to your study materials to review concepts related to those questions.

Tip #5: Practice a Topic Until You Can’t Get Questions Wrong

One of the most valuable, practical tips for GRE practice I can give is to not simply practice until you get questions on a topic correct; practice until you can’t get questions on that topic wrong. Reaching this level of mastery will take some time, but each time you complete practice questions on a topic, you should feel a little better about the material.

Keep in mind that when you answer GRE practice questions, failure is the rule, not the exception. You will get questions wrong. There is no way around that fact. However, if you use your incorrect answers to learn topics more deeply, you can supercharge your GRE score.

TTP PRO TIP:

Aim to practice not until you get questions on a topic right but until you can’t get questions on that topic wrong.

Tip #6: Solve a Wide Range of Realistic GRE Practice Questions

In order to develop skill in correctly answering questions like the ones that you may see on test day, you must practice with a broad range of realistic GRE practice questions.

Variation is the linchpin in this process: the broader variety of questions you see on a topic, the better versed in that topic you’ll become and the better prepared you’ll be to handle GRE questions on that topic down the road. For example, you may be able to easily answer any question involving slopes or y-intercepts by using the slope-intercept form of a line, y = mx + b. However, if you haven’t also practiced with questions that use the (equivalent) formula for the standard form of a line, Ax + By + C = 0, you could find yourself tripped up by a simple question about lines. Additionally, you’ll need to practice other question types involving lines: parallel lines, intersecting lines, linear growth problems, word problems using linear equations, etc. A single topic can extend well beyond the basics, so you’ll need skill in answering a variety of questions on each GRE topic.

In practicing with a wide range of realistic GRE Verbal and Quant questions, you’ll both broaden your knowledge of a topic and prepare yourself for all of the ways that the GRE might test you on that topic.

• Keep in mind that while you can find many free GRE practice questions online, you want to make sure you’re using questions from a trusted source that will provide you with realistic practice to get you prepared for your exam. And as we’ve already discussed, you’ll want to make sure you’re completing GRE practice in an organized, methodical, and efficient way. The right GRE prep course can be an invaluable resource in making sure that both your learning and practice are structured and thorough. So, when you shop around for a GRE prep course, make sure you select one that has a large bank of realistic GRE practice problems with which you can hone your skills. The Target Test Prep GRE Course, for example, includes more than 3,000 realistic practice GRE questions and gives you the ability to create customized tests to drill concepts and target your weak areas.

To get you started, check out the TTP Free Resources page, which has realistic GRE Quant practice problems along with step-by-step video solutions, a “cheat sheet” of GRE math formulas, and plenty more to help you in your studies.

TTP PRO TIP:

Practicing with a wide range of realistic GRE questions allows you to broaden your knowledge of a topic and prepare yourself for all the ways that the GRE might test you on that topic.

Tip #7: Regularly Answer Practice Questions on Past Topics

The majority of the problem-solving skills you learn during GRE prep are perishable, meaning that if you don’t use them on a regular basis, you’ll lose them. So, in order to ensure that your skills stay fresh, it’s wise to regularly do practice questions on past topics.

For instance, let’s say that during the first month of your prep, you learned all about inequalities and absolute values, exponents and roots, and linear and quadratic equations. Along with reviewing flashcards on those topics so you don’t forget what you’ve learned, you need to periodically solve GRE practice problems on those topics, so that you can put the information you’ve been reviewing to work.

Simply reviewing flashcards on previously studied topics isn’t enough, because over time it’s possible that you could develop weaknesses in those topics that will only come to light when you’re forced to answer questions on them. Of course, you don’t want the moment when that happens to be on test day.

So, a solid strategy is to spend about one third of every study session solving GRE practice questions on past topics. Of course, one of the benefits of practicing previously learned material is that both your accuracy and your speed tend to improve as your exposure to practice questions on a topic increases.

TTP PRO TIP:

To keep your GRE skills and knowledge fresh, spend about one third of every study session solving GRE practice questions on past topics.

Now that you know how to effectively use GRE practice questions during your prep, you may be interested in this article about how to incorporate practice tests into your GRE prep.

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